Council on Foreign Relations

Award-winning author of The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenges to China’s Future. Currently writing a new book on China’s rise and its geopolitical and strategic implications.

CFR experts give their take on the cutting-edge issues emerging in Asia today.
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Chinese domestic and foreign policy; U.S.-China relations; global environmental issues.

Member, Board of Councilors, China-U.S. Center for Sustainable Development; member, Global Agenda Council on the Future of China, World Economic Forum; member, National Committee on U.S.-China Relations; member, Research Council, Institute for International Research at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies (2000-2002); member, Selection Committee for the Woodrow Wilson Center’s International Scholars Program (1999-2000); Cochair, Woodrow Wilson Center Working Group on China and the Environment (1997-99); member, Selection Committee of MacArthur Foundation Research Writing Competition (1996-98); periodically consults for agencies of the U.S. government; professorial lecturer, SAIS, Johns Hopkins University (1997); Research Fellow, Columbia University (1994); Visiting Assistant Professor of Chinese Foreign Policy, University of Washington (1993-94).

Chinese and Russian (familiar).

Received honorary degree from Vermont Law School (May 2008); The River Runs Black named best social sciences book published on Asia in 2003 or 2004 by the International Convention on Asia Scholars (June 2005); The River Runs Black named one of the Cambridge Top 50 Sustainability Books in 2008; profiled in the National Journal’s special report on people whose ideas will help shape important policy issues after the 2004 presidential elections (May 2004).

The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenge to China’s Future (Cornell University Press, 2004); China Joins the World: Progress and Prospects (coeditor, Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1999); "The G-2 Mirage," Foreign Affairs (co-author, May/June 2009); Challenges and Opportunities for U.S.-China Cooperation on Climate Change, Testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; The Internationalization of Environmental Protection (coeditor, Cambridge University Press, 1997); “China’s Olympic Nightmare,” Foreign Affairs, (co-author, July/August 2008); China in Africa: Implications for U.S. Policy, Testimony before the U.S. Senate Committe on Foreign Relations' Subcommittee on African Affairs Hearing (June 4, 2008); "Economic Miracle, Environmental Disaster: The Degradation of the Huai River Basin," What Matters (Sterling Publishing, March 2008); "China's Growing Ecological Footprint: Global Threat or Opportunity for Collaboration?" The United States, Russia, and China: Confronting Global Terrorism and Security Challenges in the 21st Century (Praeger Security International, 2008); "China's Real Environmental Challenge," Caijing Magazine (Annual Edition, 2008); "A Regional Security Complex in East Asia: The Reality and the Potential," The Environmental Dimension of Asian Security: Conflict and Cooperation over Energy, Resources, and Pollution (United States Institute of Peace Press, 2007); Inside China (contributing author, National Geographic, 2007); "The Great Leap Backward?" Foreign Affairs (September/October 2007); "Scorched Earth: Will Environmental Risks in China Overwhelm its Opportunities?" Harvard Business Review (2007); "China vs. Earth," The Nation (2007); China's Environmental Challenge, testimony before the U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission Hearing (February 2, 2006); Environmental NGOs in China: Encouraging Action and Addressing Public Grievances, testimony before the Congressional Executive Commission on China Roundtable (February 7, 2005); "Don't Break the Engagement," Foreign Affairs (May/June 2004); "Interview with Elizabeth Economy: China's Development and the Environment," Harvard Asia Quarterly (Winter 2003); Beginning the Journey: China, the United States, and the WTO, report of the Independent Task Force (codirector, Council on Foreign Relations Press, 2001); "Reforming China," Survival (Autumn 1999); "Painting China Green," Foreign Affairs (March/April 1999); and opeds and book reviews book published in the New York Times, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Boston Globe, New York Newsday, and South China Morning Post.

Related Links:
CFR Fellow Elizabeth Economy’s The River Runs Black Named Best Social Sciences Book on Asia

Current Research Projects

• U.S.-Asia Update Roundtable Series
• The Rise of China and the Remaking of East Asia
• Hong Kong Forum
• Asia Program

Past Research Projects

• China 2025 Conference
• China Business Series Roundtable
• U.S.-Asia Update Roundtable Series
• Study Group on China and Southeast Asia
• Study Group on China and the Environment
• James J. Shinn U.S.-Asia Roundtable
• Independent Task Force on China, The United States and the WTO
• Study Group on Governance in China
• Conference: From Bicycles to Beepers--the Politics and Economics of Business in Asia
• Asia and the Environment Roundtable
• Study Group on Constructive Engagement with China
• U.S.-China Roundtable